Dog Days
by vnwelcome
Summary: In which Sirius Black falls in love, recklessly and totally, with a girl who smokes cinnamon cigarettes and burns like fire. [Sirius/OC]
1. Prologue

Dog Days: A Harry Potter Fanfic, Sirius/OC

{Prologue}

There was never a shortage of firewhiskey in 12 Grimmauld Place; most of it concealed by charms and hidden in cupboards away from the reach of underage hands. The rest of it could usually be found bottled and resting lazily against Sirius Black's lips. Although almost never drunk (or so he'd have everyone believe), Sirius maintained an unhealthy amount of alcohol in his daily diet, despite the constant pestering from Molly to "Put down that glass, Sirius, or so help me Merlin I will take it from you myself!" as she fussed over the brooding residents of the house. So when he padded down the stairs into the kitchen for his nightly drink, Sirius was shocked to find the cellar empty.

"Can't stay sober for a single night, Padfoot?"

Sirius scoffed at the quiet, sarcastic voice of Remus Lupin, turning to find his friend reclined in the faded red armchair adjacent to the softly burning fireplace. A bottle of firewhiskey gleamed gold in his hand.

"Moony, you thieving bastard," he said gruffly, collapsing into the couch across from Remus. He eyed the drink in Lupin's hand. "Seems you've caught on to my deplorable ways."

His mischievous eyes glinted grey in the firelight. Remus snorted, taking a swig of whiskey, letting the pleasant magical burn warm his throat.

"Molly quite thinks you'll drink yourself to death."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"The woman's a bloody saint. It's awful."

The two shared a rumbling chuckle. Sirius reached to the table and grabbed a bottle of firewiskey for himself, casually popping the lid and bringing the fiery liquid to his lips, letting it sear his throat. The crackling fire illuminated the dark living room in flickering shadows, casting Remus and Sirius' careworn and carefree faces in an orange glow, along with the slowly accumulating effects of alcohol. Sirius didn't ignore the new wrinkles creasing his friend's forehead under the light brown hair that just barely swept his face.

"Furry troubles, Moony?" Sirius asked, eyebrows disappearing beneath the shadows on his face, dark hair falling into the light as he leaned forward. Remus shook his head, scoffing.

"If only," he mumbled, sipping firewhiskey.

"Impossible! The most troubled man alive, wishing for the very thing that haunts him?" Sirius joked, steely eyes glinting. Remus let a half-hearted chuckle raise the side of his mouth. "And here I was thinking there couldn't be another woe to add on to that sorry list of yours."

"Apparently I attract sorrow."

Sirius nodded. "Like a Summoning Charm," he said, studying Remus. Suddenly, a light of realization flicked on in Sirius' head and his thoughts immediately centered on a certain pink-haired cousin of his. "Ah, but that's not the only thing you attract, is it?" Sirius waggled his brows lewdly, letting out a bark-like laugh as Remus sagged back in the armchair and groaned.

"It can't happen, Padfoot; I've told her a thousand times, I'm too old, too poor—"

"Too wolfy?" Sirius offered, cackling at Remus' stony glare. "C'mon, Moony, she's obviously mad for you, and Tonks isn't exactly one to give up easily."

"She's stubborn as a damned gnome."

"And you bloody love it!" Sirius laughed, raising his bottle and drinking. Remus sighed, running a hand through his thin hair in a practiced way. "You'd be all over her by now back at Hogwarts," he added, whiskey bubbling deliciously against his tongue. Remus blew a stream of air out of his nose, similarly tipsy. "Since you obviously still can't get a girl to save your life."

Remus choked on his drink, disbelief thrown across his face like an open book.

"And you couldn't keep it in your pants, you hound, giving all those airheaded swooning girls...oh, what did they call it—"

"Don't, you traitorous prick—"

" _Black Attacks_!" Remus burst into uncontrollable laughter, pulling Sirius' barking laugh out along with him. "You'd waltz around bewitching those poor girls with your arrogant lack-of-charm and leave them after a quick shag, breaking all their hearts. They'd all mutter curses at you, damning the notorious dog you were." Remus couldn't continue, seized by drunken guffaws. Sirius chuckled dizzily, his own drink turning his thoughts drowsy and light.

"What can I say? The ladies couldn't resist me," he gloated, leaning back on the couch, knees and arms wide.

"They most certainly could. Remember that time just before Christmas holidays, fifth year, when you dumped Georgiana Moran in the broom closet behind the Great Hall to avoid her going home with you and James, and she—"

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius moaned, chuckling into his palm.

"She stormed out after you into the Hall, grabbed the wizard's chess set from Frank and I as we were playing, and bloody _beat_ you senseless with the thing! She was merciless!" Remus roared with laughter at Sirius' expense. Sirius shook his head in a rather doglike manner, pointing the tip of his bottle to Remus and chuckling.

"Alright, dear friend, but do you recall a Miss Jane Brownell?" It was Sirius' turn to cackle as Remus' face turned ashen. "The Madam Puddifoot's Incident, of course you remember? The following year, around our NEWTs, we'd gone out to Hogsmeade and the Marauders and I let it slip that you were having tea with Nathalie West, so Jane sent Nathalie's tea straight down her shirt in a jealous rage as you were pouring it so Nathalie threw the entire kettle all over your sputtering face!" Sirius howled and Remus chuckled warily, face heating as he remembered the unfortunate event.

"Scalding hot, that tea," he said, taking a drink. He snickered. "Not as hot as Collette Winterby, sixth year, after she hexed you in the common room and all you could do was bark like a sad shepherd, not something you're unused to of course, as she screamed at you for the whole house to hear." Remus grinned at Sirius' exasperated sigh.

"You'd have thought she was a Howler, the way she was going off about it." Sirius took a long swing of firewhiskey. "Ophelia Walsh, the one who spit in your Sleeping Draught and set the entire Potions room on fire. Your eyebrows were singed for weeks." He recounted, eyes mirthful despite their sunken hollowness.

Remus' own eyes lit up at the mention of explosions, giving Sirius a sniggering glance.

"Your precious hair didn't grow past your ears for six months after Anastasia Silver," Remus jeered. "You moped around for ages, whining about your 'Beautiful, voluminous hair!' like a narcissistic pig!"

"Rebecca Sothenbury, at the lake—"

"Marissa Fletcher, the Whomping Willow—"

"Beatrice Taylor."

"Vanessa Redding!" Remus yelled, pointing vehemently at Sirius.

"Oh, you wouldn't stoop that low, Moony—"

"Heather Appleby." Remus interjected, grinning wildly. Sirius' eyes blazed with the burning fire.

"Danielle Williams!" he shouted, laughing at Remus' flustered expression.

"That's just cruel, Padfoot." he muttered, both of them taking long swigs from their nearly empty bottles. "Not everyone has your inept and annoyingly obvious flirtatious personality."

"Jealous, Moony? There wasn't one girl I couldn't get." Sirius tipped his bottle to his lips cockily, tone playful. Remus made a halting sound at the back of his throat and slowly shook his head, catching Sirius' attention. He leaned forward, his weary brown eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Mira Stone."

Sirius froze, lips halting against the lip of his cool bottle, nearly spitting back his drink. He forced the firewhiskey down his throat, where it burned uncomfortably as his eyes went wide in shock. Remus' words echoed in Sirius' spinning head, her name surfacing abruptly in his memory where he had submerged it so long ago, spilling fleeting images of dark hair and red ribbons and snarky smiles across his vision like toppled ink. Sirius sighed deeply.

"You've got me there, mate," he muttered, half-chuckling, raising his empty bottle to his lips again, noticing the lack of liquid in it with a frown. Remus sat back slowly, content with victory, and observed the sudden quiet that had captured his normally rambunctious friend. He risked a question, spoken softly.

"Did you …?"

Sirius looked up.

"Love her?" his voice crackled deeply, much like the fire that had begun to dim beside them. He gave a lopsided smile.

Remus nodded, and the two sat in silence, watching the dance of the flames and wondering of love, each thankful for the other's presence, alive and well, friends through and through.

In his silence, Sirius' heart sang a lament, beating to a waltz he wished he could dance again.


	2. Chapter 1

Ch 1: Chasing the Train

 _{In which Mira Stone gets Quite Angry, Wormtail Escapes, a Nimbus 1500 is Confiscated, and Two Students are Very Late.}_

Mira Stone did not like being stolen from. Not one bit. Actually, it topped her mental list of things she absolutely loathed the most, especially when the nicked item in question was one of her most prized possessions. Of course, Mira tried to be a reasonable young witch most of the time, but her temper was very nearly the same as a Hungarian Horntail's and ten times as frightening.

So, when Mira found the pudgy sixth year laughing with his three friends as he levitated Mira's brand-new Nimbus 1500 cockily in the air, it was in Peter Pettigrew's best interest to run.

"Shit, Wormtail, run!" James Potter swore, shoving Peter into the bustling walkway of Platform 9 ¾, eyes almost as wide as his friend's, which bulged in a terrified manner, giving him the appearance of an anxious mouse. Mira didn't have time to curse her mischievous classmates before Peter took off into the crowd with the broom, leaving the three other boys cackling against the brick wall.

"You thieving _rat_!" Mira yelled hoarsely, vision tunneling in rage as she sprinted after him, wand drawn, robes flying. She shoved her way through skittering first-years and ran in the way of the ever-offended Pureblood parents, elbowing a barn owl's cage, earning a sore arm, and knocking over several kegs of butterbeer from a sleazy vendor's table, ignoring his belated curses. She focused on the fluttering coattails of Pettigrew's robes that ducked away just ahead of her. Blood boiling, heart racing excitedly from the chase, Mira pushed forward, speeding up until she could just reach that sniveling coward's hood, if only she just got a little closer—

Her outstretched hand grasped at nothing as Peter disappeared onto the train, hopping aboard and swinging the door shut just as Mira reached within an inch of him.

"You sniveling bastard! Come out and face me, or has someone stolen your balls as well?"

Mira banged her fists against the scarlet steel of the train, screaming insults at a long-gone Peter until a pair of too-harsh arms pulled her away. She whipped around and raised her wand, ready to fire a curse immediately, breathing heavily.

"Lower your wand, or you will be detained for threatening attack on the station staff." The security guard's steely voice commanded, his own wand level with Mira's reddened face. In his left hand was the Nimbus 1500, undamaged, if not slightly ruffled.

She gave the wizard a good long glare, assessing his wide stance and annoyingly immaculate official blue robes, and dropped her arm, never holding her head at any lower height. He nodded curtly, his thin, sallow face pinched together in a way that made Mira want to give him a good blow to the head. Mira looked around. A crowd had gathered around them, mostly snickering fifth years, angry parents, and some of her sixth year classmates, who watched her with a mix of fearful and amused faces, quite used to her sometimes troublesome stunts.

"Name and destination." Inspector Illweed, judging from his small gold nametag, said. His voice was reedy and slimy. The Slytherins probably missed this one, Mira thought.

"Stone. Mira Stone. Hogwarts. What's it to you?"

She succumbed to the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes as he whipped out a quill and notebook, documenting the infraction with a furrowed brow. Mira crossed her arms, eyeing her lovely new broom impatiently as he wrote her up. She caught a glance of herself in the reflective, sleek brown wood of the newly-polished stick; all wild, tangled black curls, sharp brows, and jutted jaw. Mira Stone was intimidating, and she knew it. Illweed looked up, ripping off the demerit and pocketing his copy and the quill.

"Dangerous behavior in King's Cross Station will not be tolerated, Miss Stone. You are being let off with a warning. However, we will be detaining this broomstick, as it is a hazard to the passengers—"

" _What?_ You can't confiscate my broom! It was a gift from my father—" Mira's heated interruption was cut off by Illweed's raised voice.

"—You may have it delivered to Hogwarts by owl upon your arrival for a fee of six Galleons." He handed the demerit to Mira, who ignored the yellow slip.

"Six Galleons? That's bull—"

"You are dismissed, Miss Stone." Illweed thrust the parchement into Mira's hands, sent her a stern glare, and walked briskly off into the dispersing crowd.

Mira watched him stalk off with her broom helplessly, crumpling the slip and tossing it aside without so much as a glance. She huffed, straightening the black leather jacket she wore comfortably and reaching up to her unruly hair for a loosely tied red ribbon, pulling it out of the dark curls and retying around her wrist it in a practiced way. Looking around the station, she noticed most of the students had already boarded, and now the few remaining families were sharing goodbyes. She'd left her cart over by the wall entrance, so she turned and hurried back up the platform, muttering curses under her breath. Her father's parting words rang ironically in her head: "Stay out of trouble, witch!" to which she'd replied her usual, "I'll try, Muggle!" A small laugh escaped Mira when she thought of her mother's practiced eye roll and wave, some tension leaving her wound up brows. She could only imagine what sort of Howler she'd get from her mother after her parents were alerted about her little escapade, only minutes after her warnings. She reached her cart, which was pushed against the brick wall, a sleek black cat sitting placidly on top of the stacks of books and leather suitcases.

"Sorry about that, Queenie. That twat's going to have to wait until after the Feast for me to charm the hair off his greasy little head," Mira said, giving the cat an affectionate scratch behind her ears. Queenie meowed as if agreeing, resuming grooming her shiny paws.

Mira glanced around, and after ensuring the absence of adults or that slimy Illweed, dug inside her worn jacket pocket and pulled out her black and red box of cinnamon cigarettes, crafted magically herself. She lit one with a quickly muttered _Incendio_ and took a long drag, savoring the fiery sweetness of the spicy smoke. Overall, Mira thought sarcastically, it was a positive start to the term, and she hadn't even got on the train.

"Being a naughty girl, are we, Stone?" A low, playful voice came from behind Mira. She could almost hear the lewd smirk on Sirius Black's boyishly charming face.

"Yes, actually; just as you're being an obnoxious prat, Black." Mira turned around, arching a single brow at Sirius' lazily approaching figure. He feigned a gasp, clutching a hand to his heart over his grey sweater in mock hurt.

"Oh, the pain," he drawled, eliciting an eyeroll from Mira, "You've wounded me!" He staggered closer, limping as if impaled by an invisible dagger. Mira scoffed. Queenie made a mewling sound almost identically, teeth bared at Sirius, who the cat had never quite liked.

"If only you'd die of blood loss," Mira commented. Sirius sniggered, straightening to his full height, which was several inches above Mira's, even with his slouched, relaxed posture. He threw a glare at Queenie, and Mira almost caught a slight growl from his throat. They regarded each other, his grey eyes twinkling with infinite mischief, crinkled in the corners, and her warm amber ones enthused, mascara smudged slightly at the tips of her full lashes.

"You'd be heartbroken without me. Who else would steal your cigarettes?" Sirius made a quick grasp at the box in her hands, swiping one just as she swatted him away. He grinned his lopsided, cocky grin, reaching for his wand just as Mira uttered the fire spell, catching the brown roll in an explosive burst of flame. Sirius yelped, cursing, as Mira cackled, watching him stop the cigarette and stomp out the flames.

"I dunno, but who else would steal my broomstick?" Mira crossed her arms, glaring at Sirius as he nursed his singed hand, dark hair falling across his soured face. Mention of the broom put a smile on the trickster's face.

"You should've seen the look on your face. You looked about ready to murder the sorry bastard," Sirius said, breathing a laugh. Mira scowled. "We were just having a bit of fun, that's all!" Sirius assured, shrugging.

"You're lucky I haven't got any bludgers on me, because Merlin, when I get my hands on him, I swear—"

An earsplitting whistle screeched through the station, cutting Mira off abruptly. The Hogwarts Express shuddered and groaned on the tracks, engine building like flame in the belly of a Chinese Fireball. Steam built up on the tracks, and with a final whistle, the scarlet train started, rolling out of the platform with accumulating speed. The Hogwarts Express was departing.

"We've missed the train!" Sirius shouted, eyes wide, whirling around to face Mira.

"RUN!" She exclaimed, and the two took off in a dead sprint after the chug-chugging train, grabbing their carts and barreling down the platform. The train ducked into the exiting tunnel, each car passing under faster and faster as the students came closer. Mira panted, eyes set on the metal platform at the end of the last car, ignoring the frantic mewling protests of Queenie and Sirius' shouting of 'We'll never make it!' from beside her.

Mira reached the tracks, pushing her cart ferociously in an attempt to catch up with the last car, only meters away. She managed to grab her wand.

"Jump!" She screamed. They advanced, and Mira focused on the door to the compartment.

"Are you mad?"

" _Jump!_ "

They jumped, Mira flinging out her wand and yelling a spell that caught their carts midair and flung them up and up and up, legs flailing, voices shouting, mere inches away from the car, until they fell, slamming unceremoniously against the steel tracks as the train rolled away.

Mira landed beside Sirius' cart, her own toppling in a mess on the metal. Sirius moaned from inside his cart, splayed out atop of his luggage. Mira groaned, heart sinking.

"James'll never believe this," came Sirius' muffled voice, at which Mira threw her Herbology textbook, receiving a pained cry in response.

"Shut up."

Sirius sat up on the precariously balanced cart, rubbing his neck sorely. He glanced at Mira, cracking a smile at her furious expression. She noticed his gaze, scowling vehemently at him, her olive skin red with frustration. She wrinkled her nose up at him, the brown freckles that smattered her nose crinkling too. Sirius had never seen her so flustered. It was fantastic.

"What?" she snarled. Her wild hair lay strewn about her shoulders and tumbled down her back. His own long, think hair was in a similar state of mess. Suddenly, Sirius started chuckling. His bark-like laugh was infectious, and soon Mira realized the utter hilarity of their ridiculous situation and joined in, her scoffing laugh loud and carefree. They laughed until their sides, sore from the fall, ached even more, until they were sure Illweed would come out and hex the giggles right out of them. Mira sighed after a fit of giggles. "So, notorious Marauder, have you got any bright ideas to get us out of this sodding mess?"

Sirius' head shot up and he grinned devilishly.

"I have a bike."

Mira stared at Sirius Black and his flying motorbike, and felt two irrevocably polar emotions.

One, she hated Black's guts and was most definitely _not_ a girl he was ever going to play, not if she couldn't play him first.

Two, the entirely consuming need to drive as fast as possible and feel the wind in her hair and the speed in her blood and the danger in her pulse.

As she eyed the beautiful bike and the undeniably, even if begrudgingly, reckless, attractive boy waiting beside it, her senses told her that this wasn't the best idea.

But then, Mira had never been the most sensible girl.

She stepped forward, hands on her hips, her boots leaving footprints in the dust outside King's Cross. She gave Sirius a steady glare.

"We won't be seen?"

"James and I have never been caught."

"What about our things?"

"We can have them sent to Hogwarts on the next train. You can spend a few nights without your precious mascara, can't you?"

Mira snorted at Sirius' taunting tone.

"And this isn't just a lame excuse for groping me as I hold on to you for dear life?"

Sirius snickered, giving Mira his most flirtatious look.

"No promises there, sweetheart," he said, all deep-voiced and arrogant. Mira cracked a sly smile.

"Alright, on one condition."

"What?"

"I get to drive."

Sirius burst into laughter, bracing himself on the shiny bike as doglike guffaws erupted from his chest. Mira cocked a brow, unamused. He looked up, aghast.

"You can't be serious," he said.

"No, I think that's you." Mira stepped toward him, ignoring his snort at her pun. She grabbed the keys from his hands with a jingle, fixing him a coy stare. "Let. Me. Drive."

Sirius whimpered in a puppy-like manner, looking from his beloved bike to Mira and back again. Sirius had no options: it was either he left her here, a fellow housemate and classmate, or he risked his prized bike in her volatile Beater hands. Mira waited patiently. He could count her freckles on her slightly sunburned, tan cheeks, she was so close. She smelled intoxicatingly of cinnamon cigarettes. Finally, he met her big girlish eyes, and stepped aside for her to take her seat on his bike.

Mira grinned triumphantly, taking her place with an easy, excited confidence familiar to Sirius as something much like his own. He sat behind her, immediately wrapping his arms around her smaller body, pressing her tightly against him.

"Now, I've got more access, anyway," he teased in her ear, smirking when she gave the faintest shiver. Mira huffed, ramming her elbow into Sirius' gut harshly, getting a satisfying groan from him.

"Don't worry," she whispered, revving the engine with a loud, thunderous roar, "I won't go too fast."

They shot off into the sky with a whoop and a holler and a rumbling roll, climbing to heights out of sight of the Muggle world, the wind beating Mira's unhelmeted hair into tangles and blowing Sirius' out as if he was a dog sticking his head out a car window. Mira caught on to the bike's controls quicker than she and Sirius thought she would've, remembering all the times her father had given her rides on his Muggle motorcycle. Sirius nearly choked on her mussed hair and kept his hands mostly to himself, somewhat afraid of Mira's sharp elbow. The fast bike took them to Hogwarts in little time, and they made progress only an hour behind the Hogwarts Express. They arrived at the castle by nightfall, cloaking the bike with protective spells near Hagrid's Hut and scrambling under moonlight to the castle gates, exchanging few words in their haste to get to the Feast and pull on their robes, which had been kept in the bike's sidecar along with Queenie, who hopped out and padded across the grounds, yellow eyes alert for mice.

They snuck into the Great Hall just as the silver dessert plates were close to wiped clean, silently appearing at opposite ends of the Gryffindor table.

"Mira! Where the hell have you been?" Alice exclaimed, staring expectantly at her bedraggled friend as she sat down. Frank Longbottom, arm around his girlfriend, gave Mira a curious look as well, as did Georgiana Moran, Vanessa Redding, and Lily Evans, all of them halting their chattering conversations to attack Mira with flurries of words. She glanced over to where the Marauders sat, ruffling Sirius' hair and pestering him with questions and accusations. Her eyes found Peter's and narrowed, shaking her head and mouthing curses at his terrified expression. The boys roared with laughter, looking back from Mira to their puddings. Sirius' gaze lingered. He caught her eye just as Remus Lupin patted his back, cracking some joke to James Potter, who sat cackling, glasses askew as always. Sirius winked, eyes alight, a move sure to melt the heart of any unsuspecting witch. Mira gave him her classic snarky smirk and turned back to her pestering friends, ready to tell them a long, ridiculous story sure to cause several days of gossip and scandal.

Not the most ordinary start for a new term, after all.


	3. Chapter 2

Ch 2: A Beater's Revenge

 _{In Which Queenie is Harassed, a Seating Arrangement is Re-Arranged, Practice is Cancelled, and a Bludger is Dented Significantly.}_

In the Gryiffindor dormitories, stormy weather called for nothing but dorm parties. So when the clouds darkened to bruised purples and greys and rain smattered every tower window, a crackling fire blazed against the gold and red of the common room behind the pompous pink portrait of the Fat Lady as the heavily inebriated, rambunctious students clambered about in it, and in every dorm up the staircases there was noise and laughter and general tomfoolery. For the residents of Girl's Dorm 13, the thunderous storm brewing outside the tower meant no escape from a slumber party.

Ravaged boxes of chocolate frogs and black treacle lay strewn about the unkempt dorm, schoolbooks toppled in corners on nightstands and duvets in unmade messes on the circularly arranged four-poster beds. Five chortling girls lay in the center of the room in various stages of intoxication, bright faces red as they dared each other to risk randomly assorted flavors of Bertie Bott's.

"Ooooh, Mira's got the red one!" cried Vanessa Redding, her sleek brunette ringlets swishing playfully in a long ponytail. She gave Mira a friendly shove, stealing the cigarette from her friend's lips as Mira scowled, ready to pop the bean in her mouth. Mira glanced quickly at Georgiana, Alice, and Lily, all of them giggling excitedly and leaning towards her.

"Here goes," she mumbled, and then bit down into the crimson bean. Immediately, incredible heat seared her mouth and throat as if there was dragon fire in her lungs. She gasped, eyes bulging as the spice built up and threatened to explode, gesturing madly at her cackling friends for water. Suddenly, she closed her eyes, and steam erupted from her ears like a train whistle, a feeling similar to Apparition, but twenty times as hot. In a fit of giggles, Lily grabbed a water bottle and tossed it to Mira, who gratefully took a long drink of the cooling liquid. "'S hot," Mira managed, shaking her loose curls with a gasp.

"Your face is redder than Lily's hair!" Alice exclaimed, making Lily laugh loudly and swish her long ginger locks.

"Alright, 'Nessa, it's your turn," Georgiana grinned from her collapsed position on Alice's lap, pointing at Vanessa devilishly. Vanessa pouted, eyeing the spilling carton warily. Mira and Lily threw their arms around her, Mira stealing her cigarette back and placing it between her teeth.

"Come on, you can't back down after what Mira's just been through," Lily teased, her green eyes twinkling gleefully. Mira nodded, hazy reddish-brown smoke drifting lazily from her lips.

"Scared, Redding?" she taunted, narrowing her eyes. Vanessa's brows furrowed in determination immediately.

"Never," she said, and popped a black bean straight into her mouth. The girls waited for her response, eagerly anticipating her reaction as she chewed, eyes closed. Then, with a horrified shriek, she spat it out, grabbing the nearest bottle of butterbeer and taking a hasty drink. "Black licorice!" she cried, and the girls erupted with cacophonous laughter.

Just as Georgiana flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and reached for a particularly neon green bean, an incessant scratching noise came from the door, barely audible among the rumbling of thunder outside. The girls halted, ready to dispose of their drinks in case an unwelcome professor was knocking (or if Lily, a Prefect, came to her senses any time soon).

Mira stood up, making her way to the door hesitantly. She reached the handle, and glanced back to her dorm-mates, who egged her on with nods. She took a breath, then flung open the door, gasping at what she saw.

"Oh, Queenie!"

The cat meowed despondently, her ragged coat soaked to the bone, clinging to her bones like a dirty rag. Mira picked her up and slammed the door shut, petting the cat worriedly as the girls converged around her with gasps and sighs. The cat hissed as Mira wrapped her arms around her, and Mira saw with a stroke of anger that Queenie's long, fluffy tail had been bitten, the black hair falling off in clumps from the raw red skin. "Who's done this to you, girl?" she whispered, sitting down on her bed as the girls clambered around her.

"Poor thing's shivering, she's been out in the storm," Alice said, patting the cat affectionately between the ears.

Georgiana grabbed a fluffy red blanket and Mira wrapped the cat in it. Queenie purred from the warmth. Vanessa sat comfortingly beside Mira with a similar frown on her small features, and Lily had drawn her wand, instantly assuming her responsible Prefect role. She muttered a few quick healing spells, and some of the damaged skin on the cat's tail began to grow back, her wet fur drying back to its normal, soft, long state.

"It looks almost like dog bites," Lily muttered, stroking Queenie's tail curiously. Georgiana frowned, dark eyes puzzled.

"Can't be. There aren't any dogs on campus, are there? How strange…"

Mira drowned out Georgiana's voice, eyes narrowing. No, there weren't any dogs on campus, she thought. But there was a certain shaggy-haired boy who had a dislike of cats and all the reputation to pull a stunt like this. She looked down at Queenie and stroked her glossy fur.

"Vanessa, Georgie, I don't think you're the only ones in here who've had a Black Attack anymore…"

"Moony, your head's been shoved so far up that book all day, I'm starting to wonder if it's not something a bit more _lascivious_ that you're reading," Sirius intoned, raising his brows suggestively at Remus, who merely rolled his eyes and flipped a page as they waited at their desk for the Potions Master, late as ever, to arrive.

"Trust me, Padfoot, it's nothing more scandalous than those Muggle romances stolen from Lily that you've got hiding under your bed." he retorted casually, smirking as Sirius burst into barking laughter. The classroom hummed with the general noises of pre-class gossip and foolishness.

"Alright, students, settle down, settle down, turn your textbooks to page forty-three…"

The cheerful voice of Horace Slughorn silenced the noisy room, the bumbling, cumbersome man making his way to the front, dabbing at his red face with a handkerchief. Remus looked up and put down his book, and Sirius grabbed his textbook from the mess that was his schoolbag, both of them muttering a "Good afternoon, Professor" along with the rest of the sixth-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

"Now, before we begin, I'd like to set a seating arrangement that'll be in place for the rest of the term, until Winter Holidays—" Slughorn was cut off by the collective groan of protest from the class. He shook his head, settling the upset students. "Now, now, I know you've all got such fabulous friends that you couldn't bear to be apart from, but let's try and make some interesting new changes, hmm? Now, where did I put that list?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, turning toward Remus with a sigh. Remus shrugged, preparing to gather his bag. Sirius' eyes skirted the room quickly, noticing Collette Winterby, her deliciously red lips open in conversation on the Ravenclaw side, with a devilish smirk. He also saw Frank Longbottom, a few of James' Quidditch friends, and, with a fearful pang, Vanessa Redding, who was seated beside and speaking belatedly to an effortlessly alluring Mira Stone, her red ribbon tied in a bow on the top of her head. She suddenly looked up from Redding, eyes finding Sirius' and narrowing just as Slughorn turned their attention back to the front of the dungeon-like, stuffy room.

"Yes, here we are. Alright, let's see, we've got Hamish and Knight, Jordan and Abbott, yes, dear, why don't you two just switch—no, Nichols, you're over there with Jinsky, and put that fire out immediately, Finnegan, we can't have Filch lurking about in here just a few weeks into the term! Lupin and Brownell…" Remus and Sirius exchanged disappointed looks before Remus shrugged and moved over to where the Ravenclaw sat, her chestnut braid spilling over her books as she greeted the lanky boy. "…Redding and Winterby, oh, that's a quite a pair, I expect great things from you two; and last but not least, Stone and Black, you two can take that last table over to the right."

Both Sirius and Mira froze. Mira rolled her eyes and scowled as she looked at Sirius, who gradually broke into a winning smirk and padded over to their table, giving her a flirtatious wink as they sat down.

"Now that that's sorted, we can begin today's potion, which will you will have the remainder of the period to complete. Can anyone tell me Golpalott's Third Law? Yes, Miss Redding?"

Sirius tuned out the Potions Master and turned to Mira, who didn't so much as give him a sideways glance, her smoky eyes focused on the instructions their professor was animatedly explaining after rewarding ten points to Gryffindor for Vanessa's answer.

"Looks like we're partners, Stone. We were just meant to be," Sirius joked. Mira scoffed, unfazed.

"Yeah, you were just meant to be under my skin, Black. And don't think I'm not on to your little prank." she hissed, snarky tone as edgy as the tips of her eyeliner. Sirius paused.

"I've no idea what you're on about." he fibbed, suddenly recognizing the cat that he and James had chased after Moony's furry transformation a few nights back to be Queenie, Mira's pet, whom she'd been yammering on about in the common room. He mentally cursed himself, knowing that with two misdemeanors against her now, she'd definitely get them back soon. There no way she knew about their Animagus forms, though, Sirius thought; he trusted the loyalty of his friends and their ability to keep secrets.

"We both know that you can't stand cats and that you and your little Marauder friends were the only ones out the night of the storm. You're the ones who harassed Queenie, I know it. And don't play stupid with me, Sirius; however apt you think you may be at it, I know when you're lying."

She gave him a confident glare, content at his lack of response and shocked expression, then turned her attention back to Slughorn. Sirius watched her, shaking his head, impressed and intrigued and a little bit ticked off. He looked over to Remus, who acknowledged him amidst note taking with Jane, and motioned to Mira with a smirk, silently scheming of all the fantastic little pranks he could pull on or even with his previously evasive new Potions partner.

Two and a half hours and a largely unsuccessful antidote later, Mira dodged Sirius' sly attempts at engaging her in flirty conversation and strode out of the Potions cellar with Vanessa, ready to meet Georgiana and Alice for the first day of Quidditch practice after tryouts. Sirius watched her walk off, her cinnamon scent wafting tantalizingly after her and leaving him, admittedly, in a daze; much the effect she had on most of the poor blokes she hung around. He shrugged it off, running a hand through his thick black hair and giving Collette Winterby a lopsided smirk as came out of the classroom, successfully trapping her with his more-than-friendly comments, his smile growing with the blush on her cheeks.

Mira had no time for Sirius and his sexy half-smile, excited for her first flight on the Nimbus since she'd had it shipped back from King's Cross. This would also be Potter's first year as Captain, and Mira was ready for long hours of hard practice and constant drilling, knowing how seriously the Seeker took the game. Georgiana and Alice waited for her by the showers, both already in their red-and-gold uniforms.

"Mira, get a move on, you know Potter's not going to tolerate your tardiness now that Flint's gone!" Georgiana pestered, pulling her honey blonde hair into a ponytail and rushing Mira into the locker room.

"I can't wait to start the season with three girl Chasers. We're gonna kick some Slytherin arse this year, aren't we, Georgie?" Alice said as Mira changed. She beamed, and her fellow Chaser nodded eagerly. Mira pulled on the rest of her gear quickly, ready to go.

"Yeah, I can't wait to work with Jinsky. I hear he's got a hell of an arm—"

Mira stopped abruptly as she reached inside her locker for her broom, only to grasp at air. Immediately, anger shot through her. She slammed the locker with a huff and stormed out onto the rain-soaked pitch, Georgiana and Alice running after her, protesting in vain. Mira spotted the team gathered next to the field, singling out the messy dark hair of the Captain in the front.

" _Potter!"_ she shouted, turning heads as she stamped over to him, ignoring his surprised expression.

"Stone, you're late—"

Before he could finish, Mira pulled out her Beater's club, eyes all fire.

"What the hell have you done with my broom?" she accused, brows arched menacingly. James scowled, towering over her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, or who you think you are, but I do know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated on my team, Stone." he spat, tone steely. Just as Mira raised her bat to give a retort, James stopped her. "I was just getting around to saying that practice is cancelled, anyway, so you won't need your brooms after all."

Mira gaped, the rest of the team joining in with uproarious displeasure.

"What do you mean, 'cancelled'? It's the first bloody day!" she exclaimed. James sighed, frustrated, adjusting his ever-skewed glasses on his nose.

"I know, but we've had a problem with the equipment. Someone's stolen the whole lot of our playing balls; we can't find a single thing. What's funny is that I swore I locked the shed yesterday—"

Before James could finish, a boyish hoot rang out above them. They all turned their heads up to see none other than Sirius Black speeding down toward them, riding Mira's Nimbus 1500, its dark wood glinting in the temporary sunlight. Mira, just about ready to send a hex straight at Sirius, froze as Ivan Jinsky let out a deep-throated warning:

"Watch out, he's got a Bludger!"

The entire team ducked to the ground with a collective yelp of fear, James and Mira frowning furiously at the figure hurtling top speed at them, a Bludger raised in his hand. Suddenly, Sirius let out a startled cry, and he lost control of the broom, pitching down in a spiraling dip and letting go of the iron ball in the process. The Bludger whizzed down toward the screaming students as Sirius and the Nimbus collapsed unceremoniously into the grass. Mira, her club poised, focused on the barreling ball, and ran up in its path. Just as it was about to hit Phoebe Lynman's cowering head, Mira gave a sharp cry and swung with all her Beater might, despite her smaller size, connecting with the wayward ball with a loud thud and sending it soaring into the branches of a nearby oak tree. The ball buried itself into the tree's leaves with a crash, rolling down its huge trunk and wobbling slowly back to Mira's feet. She dropped her club and picked it up, assessing the damage with a tut. A rather large, significant dent was cratered into the side of the ten inch iron ball. Mira glanced up at James, who regarded her with a mix of relief and gratitude, along with the rest of the team. Georgiana and Alice sighed, grinning at Mira with pride.

"Sorry about that, Cap. It looks like we'll need a new Bludger now, too." Mira informed him with an easy smile. James nodded, returning her smile.

"Good hit, there, Stone. Just make sure you remember to keep control of yourself, no matter what's been taken from or done to you, alright?" he said sternly, his Captain attitude masking his usual carefree, foolish demeanor.

"Understood." Mira nodded, turning her attention to Sirius, who had brushed himself off and was carrying the broom over to them with a mischievous grin.

"Not too bad on a broom myself, eh, Prongs?" he joked, giving James a friendly slap on the shoulder. Mira's anger resurfaced and she grabbed her broom out of Sirius' hands, lips pursed and eyes blazing.

"A bit too dangerous of a stunt to pull on my team, Padfoot. Someone could've gotten hurt—" James was cut off by Mira, who shoved herself in front of his best friend, her face inches from Sirius', who looked down at her somewhat fearfully.

"Listen, Black. I'm only going to tell you one more time. Do. Not. Mess. With. Me. Is that clear?" she hissed, eyes deadly and voice practically spitting venom. Sirius set his jaw, unyielding.

"As day, Stone," he whispered in his deep, hoarse voice, cocking a brow at her before smirking. "And you look completely hot when you're angry."

Mira held back the flush that wanted to spill across her already red cheeks. She smiled seductively, batting her eyelashes up at him with a sly grin.

"Oh, I know," she whispered, hot breath fanning against Sirius' lips. His breath hitched and he cursed himself for it. She threw him a final glare, and then turned on her heel and stalked away, red ribbon shining in her tangled black ponytail.

The rest of the team slowly trickled out; Ivan running to catch up to Mira with a grin as Georgiana and Alice followed her, Phoebe and Marcus Chang taking their lead and heading for the locker rooms. James whistled and threw an arm around Sirius, who gazed at the receding figure of the girl, amused and enthralled and definitely up for the challenge.

"How long are you going to keep chasing _her_ , Padfoot?" James asked, shaking his head and glancing at his best friend.

"How long did you chase Lily?" Sirius countered, giving James a snarky glare. James laughed.

"Alright, got me there, mate. Well, she'll give you one hell of a hard time," James teased, turning to pick up his dropped broom. Sirius nodded, snorting lightly in agreement.

"She's one hell of a witch."


	4. Chapter 3

Ch 3: The Barking Hex

 _{In Which Lily is an Accomplice, Gryffindor Wins, a Beater Gets Lucky, and Madame Pomfrey is Utterly Confused.}_

"Oh, but Mira, it's nearly Halloween!" Lily cried in exasperation. She begrudgingly lifted herself from her splayed position on her bed, stressed from containing the small riot of second-years who decided it'd be fun to charm the pumpkins in the common room to spontaneously combust, causing quite the commotion and an orange, gooey mess. "James and I were meant to go to Hogsmeade, I finally managed to grab him away from the boys for a single night—"she sighed, stubborn nature suddenly peeking through the curtain of her long red hair. "They're always up to some foolish prank, especially this time of year. Prefer tricks over treats any day, the lot of them!"

Mira seized her opportunity, moving from her previous cross-armed position to face Lily.

"Exactly! Wouldn't it be fun to get them back, just for one night?" she persisted, smiling widely, eyes bright with mischief.

"I don't know, Mira…" Lily said doubtfully, her Prefect worries obvious.

"Please, Lily?" Mira coaxed, pouting. Lily sighed, giving in. Mira grinned, already scheming ways to terrorize Sirius and the Marauders.

"It'll be fun watching the boys be the ones to struggle for once," Lily giggled, and the girls began devising a plan in hushed, conspiratorial tones.

"Alright, so you know Macy Klein, Ravenclaw, the one that's always glued to Collette's side…"

"And it's Moran with the Quaffle, dodging a nasty swerve from Kepkin, great pass to Forrest, and she goes for the shot—"

The spectators of the first Quidditch game of the year erupted into cacophonous noise as Jenna Tate, Slytherin Keeper, blocked Alice's shot, the Gryffindors in the stands screaming angry protests, clashing with the prideful cheers from the green-and-silver side of the stands. Mira cursed, swerving her broom to hover in the middle of the field, giving Alice an encouraging nod as she caught the Chaser's eye. James barked orders from above them, pausing in his search for the Snitch to tell Phoebe Lynman to watch for Yaxley's Bludgers and berating his own Beaters for not getting to Torrey, a Slytherin Chaser, before Georgiana and Alice's excellent play. Mira vaguely registered the voice of Chase Carson, commentator, telling the crowd the score was 450-500, Slytherin with the lead.

With a shrill whistle, Madame Hooch restarted the game, and Mira was all focus and concentration, sweat streaking her face through her goggles. She and Ivan Jinsky locked eyes across the pitch, both nodding, ready to make their newest strategic play. Mira shot off to the center of the field, climbing until she was well above Jinsky, who swooped down to a spot below the Gryffindor goal posts. Mira's sharp eyes found the Bludger with Yaxley, preparing herself for his arrogant move toward her. She predicted correctly, and he sent the ball whizzing straight at her. She narrowed her eyes, raised her club, and brought all her force into her blow, knocking the Bludger backwards at an alarming speed in her downward aim to Jinksy. Her fellow Beater eyed the ball, and with a tremendous double-armed swing, whacked it up above his head, where it soared into the path of Slytherin Chaser Rittoni just as he made to score past Marcus Chang, who defended the Gryffindor posts ferociously. The Bludger made contact with the end of Rittoni's high-end broom, knocking him into a straight pitch down to the muddy grass.

Mira and Jinsky grinned at each other triumphantly; swerving back into their positions as Lynman grabbed Rittoni's lost Quaffle and soared to the opposite end of the field. Mira followed suit, ready to beat back the Bludger than was spinning wildly in her general direction, when a sudden force knocked her abruptly from the left. She cried out, losing grip on her broom as she dipped. Head spinning, she pulled up all her balance and grasped at her broom, feet regaining their place in the handles. Mira whipped her head up in anger to see Fox, the other Slytherin Beater, smirking madly at her, club swinging in his hand. She growled, spotting the Bludger coming in behind him quickly, ducking down just as he saw and followed her gaze and yelped, the Bludger smacking into him with a resounding thud.

Mira resisted the urge to cackle as she watched him plummet to the dirt. Jinsky was back behind the Bludger in an instant, landing a solid swing at Kepkin. Mira sped up to her Chasers, knowing there was only a bit of time left before Slytherin would get past, her mind whizzing around possible hits and plays, when all of a sudden there was a collective hoot from the stands and Hooch was blowing her whistle in an ear-splitting screech.

"POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH, AND IT'S GRYFFINDOR WITH THE WIN AT 600 TO 500!" called Carson's elated voice, and Mira was swept up by her team in a collective cheer around Potter, whose shining face beamed, hand extended, holding the tiny golden ball high above his head. Mira hollered, elation brimming inside her, lips spilling over in a grin. She bumped against Jinsky, who flashed her a similar grin, crowding their Captain alongside Georgiana, Alice, Phoebe, and Marcus. The first victory of the season was sweet in their hammering hearts.

It being both Halloween and a Friday night, the game's after party bubbled and frothed like a tumultuous, rioting potion in the Gryffindor common room. Students wrapped in red-and-gold scarves downed searing shots of firewhiskey and drank mug after overflowing mug of sweet butterbeer and pumpkin juice, raising their glasses to James and the rest of his team in merry cheers. The malty smell of pumpkin and alcohol warmed the room along with the ever-blazing fire, showering the party in flickering oranges and reds. Floating jack-o-lanterns were lit all about the room and their ambient light brightened the red-cheeked, dancing students, their laughter ringing loudly with the Weird Sisters tunes blasting from radios and speakers. Mira danced wildly in the middle of the mess, cigarette held loosely between her teeth and mug of butterbeer flailing around with her arms as she swayed. Vanessa and Georgiana twirled with her, the girls' hair hanging wild and loose about their shoulders, ruddy-faced and smiling. Lily was giving the victorious James sideways kisses in the center of the crowd where the Marauders cackled heartily, and Alice and Frank danced spontaneously by the fireplace, mirthful giggles escaping both of them and they spun about each other. Mira loved the buzz of the party, feeling the rush of the heat and alcohol burning in her cheeks, cinnamon smoke hazing around her. She looked up to catch the eye of Ivan Jinsky, smiling slyly as he neared her. She grabbed his huge hand, laughing, and they started to dance, his goofy lopsided smile and messy brown hair making her heart stutter pleasantly. Mug forgotten, Mira looked up at Ivan through her lashes and he pulled her closer, muscled Beater arms wrapping around her as her own made their way up his neck.

"How about those plays today, huh, Stone?" he shouted over the din, blue eyes twinkling and flirty, nose drunk with the heady scent of Mira's cigarettes.

"We make a great team, Jinsky," Mira answered, smirking up at him as she took the cigarette from her mouth and leaned up toward Ivan's open lips.

" _Sirius Black, you utter prat!"_

Mira and Ivan broke apart with a start, whipping around with the rest of the partiers to see the portrait door close shut as Sirius Black scrambled into the common room frantically. He stumbled against Remus, Peter, and James, who looked at their terrified friend with a mixture of confusion, amusement, and exasperation. The voice outside banged against the walls, berating Sirius foully, recognizable as a furious Collette Winterby.

Mira smirked smugly, throwing a knowing glance at Lily, who giggled quietly beside James. She turned to Sirius, who opened his mouth to speak, and burst into gasping laughter with the rest of the House when the only thing that came out of his throat were loud, yelping dog barks. Mira doubled over against Ivan, relishing Sirius' turmoil and his puzzled, desperate expression as his voice came out in howls and yips. Mumbles of "Black Attack!" and "that poor bastard" and "serves him right, the cheating dog" rumbled through the room.

After what seemed like hours of taunts and uproarious guffaws, James led a prideful, hurt Sirius out of the party to what would be an utterly confused Madame Pomfrey, Sirius padding behind him like a dog with his tail between his legs. He glanced up just before leaving, catching Mira's gleaming eyes. She winked at him, and instantly he knew, sending an indignant growl her way. Mira laughed wholly, watching him disappear, satisfied in her little stunt. Collette would get over him, she knew. Macy had been surprisingly easy to fool, her being a Ravenclaw, and she had told Collette everything that Lily had confided in her about Sirius' supposed hound-like behavior with Becca Robbins immediately, like the obedient little friend she was. Mira grinned triumphantly, turning back to Ivan, who regarded her eagerly, firewhiskey coursing through his veins as he pulled her back against him. His kisses were almost as sweet as her revenge.

In the infirmary, Sirius yelped indignantly as James managed to explain his best friend's predicament between barely suppressed laughs to Madame Pomfrey, whose many-layered scowl grew darker with every word. She sent James, who could barely contain himself any longer, to fetch ice water and performed a quick countercurse on Sirius, who began to thank her in delighted relief when she shot off in rapid, brutal berating of his "houndlike, deserving" behavior. Madame Pomfrey finally dismissed the boys with water and healing drops that tasted of candied pig's liver for Sirius' aching, raspy throat. They eagerly shot back to the party, careful to avoid Ravenclaw Tower, where Collette probably lingered, brewing and stewing and tearing up. James elbowed Sirius just as they rounded a corner, Fat Lady in sight.

"Hey, who d'ya think tipped Winterby off about Becca?" he asked curiously, brows furrowed over his skewed spectacles.

"Prongs, I didn't do anything with Becca, unfortunately," Sirius insisted, cracking a suggestive smirk at James' knowing face. "But I do have an idea about who fibbed about it and casually threw it into current gossip."

They entered the common room after James' quick mumble of "ginger newts", finding the party still in full swing, comprised mostly of drunk seventh and sixth years, the underclassmen having retired to their dormitories, wary of the next day's early classes. James immediately spotted Lily, his eyes unconsciously lighting up at her bright face and eager wave. He turned back to Sirius.

"Really? Who?" he asked. He followed Sirius' eyes to the crackling fireplace where Wormtail appeared to be having a shot contest along with a few huge seventh years who James had tried out for Beaters earlier in the year, only to have them trumped by Stone and Jinsky, who seemed to be in a heated make out session against the wall, shots forgotten.

"Oi, come on, we can't have any inter-team romance, especially between my Beaters!" James exclaimed. Sirius chuckled and slapped James on the shoulder amiably.

"Don't worry mate, I'm sure they'll make it work out," he assured at a grumbling James.

"They'd better. Hey, I suppose you had it going for yourself, didn't you?" he grinned, still not quite recovered from the hilarity of the barking hex. Sirius rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, I s'pose I did," he mumbled, stomach twinging at the lovely sound of Mira's bold laugh after something Jinsky had said. He exhaled, throat still sore from Collette's hex, and they padded back into the party, joining Remus at the staircase bannisters for a sliding competition. The night cackled with mirth and spooky cheer, all the house alive with victory and the sweet magic of youth.


	5. Chapter 4

Ch 4: Black Dog

 _{In Which a Good Laugh is Had, the Marauders are At It Again, Mira Plays Hooky, and Muggle Music Rocks.}_

"Come on, students, at least make an effort! This will be your last potion with your current partners, so make it a good one!" Professor Slughorn called from the front of the room, releasing his 6th year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws to brew the notoriously difficult Draught of Living Death. Immediately, brows furrowed in concentration and the thick air in the dank classroom heated with cauldron fire and heady steam.

"Alright, Stone, you heard the man. Get started, and I'll sit right here," Sirius Black drawled, lazily leaning back to seat himself in his chair, "and supervise."

Mira took advantage of his lethargy and pushed back the chair with a sharp shove of her foot. Sirius yelped when his backside did not meet the wooden seat and instead continued through empty air, landing clumsily on the floor with a loud thud and muffled curse. Mira and a few other close students shook with laughter, Remus Lupin snickering vehemently at his friend as Jane Brownell leaned a little too close against him, craning her neck to see Sirius' dark hair cover his reddened face. Vanessa smirked at Mira from across the room, and Mira returned the gesture, turning back to her temporarily humbled partner.

"You're funny, Black. Now get off your arse and go get me some Valerian root." Mira demanded, beginning to prepare the large black cauldron for the disastrous attempt at the potion she thought was soon to follow. She and Black had been doing surprisingly well this term, and considering their borderline flirtatious contempt for one another, they made a half decent team.

Sirius stood, grumbling, and flashed Mira a sarcastic grin before heading over to the supply cupboards. He made sure to give his shiny hair a good shake before strutting back, much to the pleasure of the few girls perusing the myriad bottles and boxes aligned haphazardly on the shelves. He dropped the jar of stringy, starchy brown roots in front of Mira, rolled up his sleeves and fixed her with an attentive gaze.

"What's first?"

Mira flicked her eyes across the pages of her heavily worn, slightly potion-battered textbook. She scanned the instructions and then the assortment of colorful, musky jars between them, scrunching her nose in concentration. Sirius was suddenly interested in the smattering of brown freckles across her little nose that bounced as she sniffed.

"Right, where's the Sopophorous bean?" Sirius searched momentarily and handed the jar of pearly-white beans to Mira. "I'll cut this up, and you can get started with the water and African salt mixture." Mira tossed a beaker to Sirius and he set to work, careful not to stir the mixture prematurely, and she grabbed a knife and began to work at the shriveled little bean. It proved very difficult to cut, and Mira had not the most patient temper. "Oi, this damn bean's like a bloody rock," she huffed, sawing viciously at the bean and struggling to quickly contain the little juice it offered in a spare vial. Sirius looked up from his sitting saltwater solution and chuckled at Mira as she cursed the unsuspecting bean to hell and back. Her head flew up with a bounce of ebony curls and a triumphant if bitter cry, and Mira held a vial of bean juice in one hand and the dripping knife in the other, her face flushed with the effort of extracting the slippery juice.

"Let's get this out of your hands, shall we? I don't like the idea of having sharp, potentially hazardous objects in your hands when you look like you're about ready to have at it with the giant lake squid." Sirius said, leaning forward and plucking the knife out of Mira's grasp and putting it safely away from arm's reach. Mira shook her head and set the juice aside. "Okay, I'm pouring the water mixture in, and we need forty flood ounces of…" Sirius squinted to read the book under the dim light, "Essence of Wormwood, with the graduated cylinder."

"Left hand?" Mira asked, reaching for the measuring device and bottle of wormwood.

"Right."

"Right?" she switched arms, picking up the cylinder with her right hand and beginning to pour the liquid. Sirius looked up in a hurry.

"No, I meant that's right, left! Use your left hand, stupid, left!" he yelled, and Mira rapidly switched back, spilling wormwood on the desktop and scowling as deeply as Sirius.

"You could've been clearer, you daft prick!" she snapped, pushing her frustration into the careful drops of wormwood she tilted into the cauldron with her opposite hand.

"We're lucky if it's not screwed already," Sirius mumbled, more to annoy Mira than of his own interest in the potion's success. He did succeed in making her scowl further, however, and Sirius took that as a victory far greater than any bubbling brew. Mira tipped the last ten drops of wormwood into the cauldron, in which now swirled a frothy dark violet liquid.

"Cut up these Valerian roots, we're to let them settle in water for five minutes," Mira ordered, giving Sirius three of the brown roots. He swiped clean the knife and started chopping. Mira scrutinized his work with the eye of a rather ruffled falcon. "Those are rectangles, you twat, you're supposed to cut them into squares!"

Sirius groaned at her chastisement, mimicking her in a ridiculous girly soprano under his breath while fixing the edges of the gnarled root. He glanced at the textbook and at the potion, biting his lip.

"I think our potion's looking a bit more boysenberry than black currant," he pointed out, and Mira shrugged, eyeing the smooth purplish brew that was supposed to be black.

"Too late to fix that now," she said, and dumped her Sopophorous bean juice in, the two of them peering into the cauldron as it bubbled slightly before turning a more vibrant shade of violet. Sirius mimicked her shrug and poured in the diluted Valerian root water. Mira grabbed a spoon and stirred clockwise, and the potion lightened something both she and Sirius decided was close enough to lavender, which was close enough to lilac, to continue.

"Switch hands and keep stirring, it should become clear," Sirius said slowly, reading from the textbook with root-stained hands. Mira nodded, lips twitching up when she saw the dark smudges of Valerian root juice that had somehow slathered themselves onto Sirius' sharp nose and jaw, which held the slightest bristle of shadow that definitely worked to his advantage, she thought.

"Five minutes, class! Finish up!"

Sirius and Mira jolted to look at each other with wide eyes, much like the other panicking students at their professor's sudden warning.

"Shit! Sirius, get the Valerian root!"

Mira stopped stirring the translucent mixture and grabbed the square pieces roughly from Sirius, dropping them in with quickly one after another.

"Wait, it says to add them in slowly—"

Sirius was cut off as Mira dropped the last root into the cauldron, which fizzed menacingly and became murky, and reached out to him.

"Shut up and give me the spoon!"

Sirius complied, slightly afraid, and Mira stirred ferociously, the mixture slopping over the edges of the cauldron.

"Ten, nine, eight—" Slughorn began his countdown, glancing at his gold wristwatch as the students scrambled to finish their potions, cauldrons fizzing and bubbling and making a dizzy hurried mess.

"Root of asphodel!" Mira exclaimed, and Sirius fumbled with the bottle before tossing a heaping amount of grey powder into the cauldron, which bubbled abruptly and sent powder in a grainy spray all over the two.

"Five, four—"

"Stir, Mira, stir!" Sirius shouted. Mira whipped at the reddening potion wildly with both hands, swirling the liquid out of the cauldron in hot tomato-like chunks all over the desk and Sirius, ignoring the din of the classroom and focusing all her Beater power on the small stewing brew, nose scrunched determinedly and teeth ground together.

"Time's up!" Slughorn yelled from his desk, ruddy round face scanning the classroom, excited to see his students' work. "Step away from your cauldrons. Let's see how you've done with the Draught of Living Death, and hope it hasn't made a zombie out of you, hm?" he chuckled at his jest along with a few uneasy, exhausted students with lapels covered in miscellaneous bean juice and wands dripping with clumpy wet powder. He wandered around the room, inspecting each Draught attempt with a thoughtful hums and short comments ranging from poorly disguised cringes to approving head-tips and pats on the back, later regretted for the mysterious gooey slime on his hand after he pulled away. After praising Vanessa and Collette for their hot pink brew, almost the light pink of the proper potion, and commending Remus and Jane for their similar, if chunkier, try, he at last trudged over to Sirius and Mira, regarding them amiably.

"Last but not least, Miss Stone and Mister Black, you two look like you've made quite the effort. I'd suggest a change of robes, both of you," he chuckled, speaking of their rather bedraggled appearance. He peered into the messy cauldron, in which lay a smooth crimson Draught of Living Death, the color of a ripe tomato gleaming in the summer sun or, as Sirius noted, the bright red ribbon holding Mira's hair back from her pretty flushed face. Professor Slughorn gave a pleased hum, his eyebrows shooting up. "I must say, I'm impressed. I certainly did not expect such a close attempt! Perhaps with a bit more precision and time, you would have achieved the pink Draught that Miss Redding and Miss Winterby nearly made. You make a fine team." He admitted, smiling at the relieved students jovially. Professor Slughorn turned back to his class, praising Vanessa and Collette for their potion and naming them the obvious winners. He dismissed the class with holiday wishes, and the students began filing out, ready to go home for break and bask in the bright snow of winter, unwilling to worry about the darkness and impending gloom of war that whispered menacingly on the wind.

Sirius and Mira sighed, and turned toward each other. They stared at each other, taking in their sooty, powder-covered faces and dripping robes, and promptly burst into raucous, guffawing laughter. Sirius gasped for air, pointing at Mira's nearly unrecognizable gray nose and smudged mascara.

"You-your face!" he breathed, another fit of barking laughter seizing him.

" _Your_ face! It's a bloody tomato!" Mira squealed, giggling intensely at the scarlet goop covering Sirius' face and the thin speckling of asphodel over it, like a finishing touch. They gripped their sides helplessly, her obnoxious chortles just as loud as his barks.

After some time, the laughs subsided, and Sirius and Mira were left to a mostly empty classroom and a disgusting work station. Mira sighed, wiping tears from her smiling eyes, and picked up her bag, dropping her dripping textbook into it with a look of trepidation and disgust. Sirius, having not brought his books under the excuse of forgetting his bag again, watched Mira pack up, his teenage-witch-heart-melting grin unconsciously stretching across his face.

"Hey, you're a pretty great potions partner, Stone," he said, tossing the compliment honestly and unexpectedly at Mira. She glanced up, eyebrow twitching, before giving him a sincere smile that lit up her amber eyes and his thumping heart.

"You're not too bad yourself, Black."

"They've trapped Mrs. Norris on the Whomping Willow!" Alice gushed, mousy face flushed from running to the Herbology courtyard, which Mira and Lily were just exiting to go to lunch in the Great Hall. Mira frowned, grabbing her friends' arm gently.

"What? Who's put Filch's cat in a tree?" she asked, but Lily beat Alice to the punch.

"The Marauders," she groaned, visibly peeved, if somewhat amused, at her boyfriend's behavior. "At least they've found someone other than Severus to torment," she added quietly, both Alice and Mira understanding the quiet hate in her tone.

"I'm not missing a prank like this!" Mira cried enthusiastically, and with that the girls eagerly shot off to where the giant, easily agitated willow tree stood.

A light layer of snow dusted the Hogwarts grounds, the chill of December stealing bundled-up students' breaths and blowing them like wispy ghosts through the thin air. The branches of the Whomping Willow were bare, its giant pale roots sporting snow like a winter coat. The cold obviously failed to stop the Marauders, namely Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, from pulling their usual foolish stunts.

The boys had levitated Mrs. Norris, Filch's loyal persnickety grey tabby, into tall branch of the swaying tree, and stood laughing in the middle of a circle of students underneath the tree. Mira, Lily, and Alice arrived in a rush of snow and red-and-gold scarves, joining the crowd as they laughed and waited for the inevitable arrival of a helpless and angry Filch.

"Lily! I thought you were headed for lunch," James exclaimed, his lopsided glasses barely frosted over and his grin wide and inviting. Lily rolled her eyes, unable to hide the affection in her smile.

"I can't leave you for an hour before you do something incredibly stupid and troublesome," she said with a Prefect edge.

"Aw, Lily, you wouldn't tell on us, would you?" Peter pouted jokingly. Lily groaned in contempt.

"I think it's James we've got to be worried about now. He wouldn't want to upset his sweetheart," teased Remus, earning a laugh from Lily and everyone else. Sirius made a whiplash sound, ruffling James' hair, and the group erupted into laughs at his expense. Lily giggled and James rolled his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Mira caught Sirius' twinkling, mirthful eyes, and then turned to Alice and Ivan. Ivan gave her a friendly grin, and they chuckled at a quick quip about Filch from her. Mira was glad they'd kept their fling to just that—a fling, nothing more, and they were now easy friends and a monster team on the Quidditch pitch. It wasn't as if she hadn't had similar relationships with other flighty boys. Mira was really just in it to have fun, as was her usual purpose in most of her endeavors.

Just as Ivan began asking her about a particularly tricky evasive Quidditch play, Mira felt a gentle tug in her hair. She whipped around to face Sirius, who waved the red ribbon he'd snatched from its loose bow in her wild locks, in his hand.

"Just wanted to get your attention," he said, smirking as he tossed the silky ribbon back to Mira, who caught it unerringly in her gloved hands.

"A simple tap on the shoulder would've sufficed, Sirius." she quipped, busying herself with fixing the ribbon at the back of her head.

"You know, we considered throwing Queenie up there instead of Mrs. Norris." Sirius revealed, anticipating Mira's furious reply.

"I would have cursed every inch of your precious hair off your massive egoistic head." she replied calmly, finishing the bow to give Sirius a terrifying smile. He decided that she was ten times scarier without a red face and loud insulting screams. "Anyway, I'm only here to see Filch try and punish the lot of you as you scramble away like cowards. I've got to get ready for a Muggle rock concert tonight in Dufftown. I'm getting one of the Prewett brothers to Apparate me there in exchange for talking to Marlene McKinnon for him." Mira smiled excitedly.

Sirius nodded slyly, and then broke into a grin, relishing the confused look of dread on Mira's face as he said, "Led Zeppelin at the Tawny Barn, last show before their American tour. I'll see you there, Stone."

Before Mira could get in a word of outrage, Ivan shouted from the crowd of students:

"It's Filch! Run!"

Students shot off in the snow, leaving clumps of muddied slush in their hurried wake. Argus Filch, hunched over, bitter, and wrinkled as ever, appeared at the foot of the Whomping Willow. He gasped in horror as Mrs. Norris mewled ruefully down at him.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MRS NORRIS?!" he screamed, hoarse and spiteful, whipping around to the only two people left in the yard, Sirius and Mira.

"What? No, I didn't—" Mira sputtered, looking from Sirius to Filch helplessly.

"DETENTION! BOTH OF YOU! You'll be answering straight to Dumbledore for this, you wretched children!" Filch ordered, just as Professor McGonagall crested the hill and stomped through the snow to deal with the ruckus a student had reported by the Whomping Willow. She glanced up at the stranded cat, then at her two Gryffindors.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Filch?" she asked sharply. She peered down her nose at him, lips pursed.

"These blasted students charmed my Mrs Norris into the Willow, and now she's stuck up there all alone, the poor girl!" Filch blubbered, ratty hair falling in front of his face as he tightened his old coat about himself.

"Professor, I can explain, it was just a harmless joke—"

"I shall have none of your foolish excuses, Mr. Black. As for you, Miss Stone, I am very disappointed. As much as it pains me to do so, I will take ten points from Gryffindor for each of you for your disruptive, disrespectful behavior and careless disregard for the well-being of Mrs. Norris and Mr. Filch." Professor McGonagall stated in her usual uptight, no-nonsense tone.

"But Professor, I was only a bystander!" Mira exclaimed imploringly.

"It matters not what position you played in this childish stunt. Further, both of you will have Saturday evening detention for four weeks, starting tonight and carrying on after winter holidays."

Sirius and Mira shouted in protest, but McGonagall silenced them with a terse remark. Filch spoke up.

"I also expect a full apology for Mrs. Norris and myself!" he cawed, and McGonagall nodded.

"Very well, Argus. Mr. Black and Miss Stone, you are dismissed. Report to the owlery at six-o-clock sharp. I am deeply disappointed in you, and I hope I will not encounter this sort of behavior from you again," she said, eyeing Sirius in particular.

"Yes, Professor," chimed Mira and Sirius, and with that, turned and trudged back to the castle through the snow as McGonagall set to work on getting Mrs. Norris down from the agitated tree.

"I hate you with a burning passion, Sirius Black." said Mira as she scrubbed yet another trough clean of bird droppings with a hard bristly brush that she was certain was malfunctioning.

The two of them had arrived in the owlery not too long ago to serve their first detention. Feathers and dust motes filled the room, landing in the students' hair and robes, and the smell of mice and grassy owl pellets filled the circular room, eliciting sneezes regularly. Hundreds of owls occupied the space, flapping about their food, squawking and screeching and hooting, flying in an out with deliveries and freshly caught mice, and dozing off in the nests in the rafters. A mottled barn owl screeched in Sirius' ear, fluttering angrily when he accidently knocked down her water bucket.

"We shouldn't be here. We should be in Dufftown while James cleans up this stinking mess, it was his bloody idea," Sirius grumbled, shooing away a barn owl as it pecked at an owl pellet in his lustrous hair.

"No, I should be in Dufftown while you're mopping up after your stupid prank!" Mira shouted indignantly. "Gideon will have already gone by now. And it was their last show in the UK before the tour!"

Sirius looked up from his work as Mira moaned, suddenly hatching a brilliantly mischievous idea. He fumbled around in his robes until his hand brushed the familiar parchment of the trusty Marauder's Map, and was glad he forgot to hide it away in his and the boys' dorm before coming up to the owlery. He glanced outside, where dusk had settled in a dark snowy haze on the castle grounds, the sky turning a bruised cloudy grey and blowing harsh winds up into the tower through the pane-less windows.

"Mira," he started, locking his steely eyes with her brewing brown ones, "how do you feel about ditching detention?"

"This explains so many of the stunts you've managed to pull our entire time at school!" Mira muttered under her breath, wild hair grazing the dusty, cobwebbed ceiling of the tiny walkway she and Sirius were all-but-crawling through. She looked over Sirius' shoulder, face illuminated with blue wandlight, scanning her eyes over the magical parchment in his hand in fascination.

"Marauder's Map, best kept secret in all of Hogwarts that holds all of Hogwarts' best kept secrets," Sirius replied with a grin, proud of his ingenious creation. He kept a finger on their path, following the otherwise empty part of the castle's old medieval tunnel system to where the map showed an exit just outside Hogsmeade. No unwanted footprints appeared in ink on the map, and Sirius noted the absence of students wandering the village grounds after dark with silent gratitude.

"Fifth year, when you and Remus showed up in the middle of our Divination O.W.L. and let loose exploding firecrackers in the Astronomy Tower?" Mira asked, searching Sirius' smug expression as it drowned in the light and shadows of her light spell.

"Took an old blocked passage underneath the tower down to Zonko's and back," he answered. Mira sighed with appreciation.

"Brilliant," she murmured, focusing her eyes back on the dark path in front of them. Sirius took a moment to bask in her rare compliment with a gloating smile before bringing his attention to their path on the map.

"Right, the path should come to an end right around…"

"Here!" Mira exclaimed, pushing past Sirius to the thin beam of light shining through a circular wooden trapdoor a few meters ahead of them. Sirius ducked and followed her, pocketing the map with a quick sweeping glance. He placed his hands up on the door, gave Mira an excited look, and pushed. The wood gave a small groan, heavy from years of dilapidation. Mira joined Sirius and heaved up against it, and with their collective effort the door gave way, falling aside and letting silver moonlight spill into the tunnel upon them.

"Ladies first," Mira said with a smirk, giving Sirius a lift up as he grasped the circular edges of the opening.

"Hey-" Sirius muttered in protest, pulling himself up onto the thick gray root of a dying oak tree. He reached down to Mira's extended hand grasped it, pulling her up without a problem. She hopped up onto the grass, shaking the dust out of her hair and straightening her leather jacket, which she wore over her uniform. Sirius pushed the trapdoor back into place and stood, still sporting his Gryffindor sweater, shirt untucked and tie undone and swinging casually to the side, just as effortless as his shaken hair. He brought his wand to his lips in a quieting manner, and motioned for Mira to follow him.

They skirted outside Hogsmeade, ducking behind waste bins and fallen tree trunks to avoid the eyes of drunken wizards who wandered a bit too far from the busy Three Broomsticks. Mira cast a quick charm to erase their tracks from the compacted snow, their path coming and going like an uncertain ghost on the white ground. The night was cool and calm and as relaxed as the moon that hung quietly in the black, star-dusted sky, the breath of the two truants hazing the air in dissipating swirls. However tranquil the forest around them was, electricity buzzed between them, the excitement of their forbidden actions and the impending concert making the energy around them palpable. They ducked out to the edges of the forest, sprinting across the deserted, dreary moor until they met the main road and followed it past the railroad tracks. They made good pace, hurrying on the ill-paved path until the speckled warm lights of the town appeared behind a gently crested hill. As they neared, a faint rock beat resounded from a large barnhouse just outside the village.

"Come on, Black, that's Kashmir!" Mira shouted, taking off towards the music. Sirius ran straight behind her, like two shadows in a night flight. The music grew louder and louder until they were suddenly part of a dark crowd behind the barn, being shoved aside like bowling pins to the beat of a heavy bass drum. Sirius looked over the green spiked hair of a tall bloke smoking two joints at once and spotted an open window on the other side of the towering square building where a couple of fans had just climbed in through. He tugged at Mira's elbow, pointing at their chance. She nodded quickly and they squeezed past the raving crowd, hearts thumping along with the bass, quietly sneaking past the edge of the barn and to the window.

"Ladies first," Sirius smirked, holding out his clasped hands for Mira to use as a leg-up. Mira rolled her eyes, then grabbed the edge and pushed off on Sirius, jumping onto the ledge with a muted thump. She balanced her seat, then reached down to Sirius, only to find that he had pulled himself up and was sitting against the wood beside her, grinning ear to ear. Their legs swung above the hundreds of banging heads and pumping fists of the crowd, their perch on the window giving them a nearly perfect view of the band by the haystack. "Best seats in the house." Sirius turned his face close to Mira's, shouting over the brazen chorus.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a spare match in reply, blowing dense cinnamon smoke against Sirius' upturned lips. The sweet, spicy scent coupled with the blaring rock n roll threw Sirius into a high, and he lifted a fist and shouted along with Led Zeppelin, brazen and joyful. Mira joined him, screaming her throat out as Jimmy Page ripped his way through a guitar solo, slamming their ears with every wild note.

" _I gotta roll, can't stand still, got a flamin' heart, can't get my fill!"_

Mira sang hoarsely, red lips wide in a grin as she pounded her fist to Black Dog along with the deafening crowd.

Sirius barked with laughter, and then sang along with brimming enthusiasm after Mira threw him a sidelong questioning glance, unaware of his secret canine ability.

They screamed all night until their throats were sore with joy and their hearts were full with physical graffiti and their minds were ascending stairways to heaven, until his lungs were full of Mira's cinnamon smoke and her lips broke into a grin to rival Sirius'.

After several head-throbbing, earache-inducing, pure, epic, legendary encores, the crowds began to thin out of the barn and followed the band in a screaming cloud of groupies outside, where the night was nearing morning and the moon watched the Muggle town with a sleepy eye. Sirius leaned lazily against the sill, watching Mira blow the last of her intoxicatingly alluring smoke out to the winter wind. She flicked her gaze to Sirius, eyes twinkling in the dark like dazzling young stars. The moonlight cast her face in a silver glow while throwing his in moody shadows that definitely did his rugged good looks well, in Mira's mind.

"Had enough late night adventuring, bad boy?" she teased, winking slyly as she hopped down from the windowsill. Sirius scoffed, jumping down a hair's width away from her, breath ghosting across her cheeks.

"Never," he whispered, voice low and gravelly.

"Good." she smirked, eyes afire. She spun around and began weaving her way through the crowd.

"Blimey, Stone, I didn't know you were such a naughty girl," Sirius teased, waggling his brows lewdly as he caught up with her. "That's the way."

Mira rolled her eyes at his pun, telling him to can it with a playful shove. They ducked through the raging crowd, managing to steal a few Muggle beer bottles in the process and agreeing that it was complete shit compared to butterbeer after a few giddy swigs, but downing the metallic ale anyway. They staggered, dazed and confused and filled with hard rock buzz, to the edges of the Forbidden Forest, closely following one another to the woods beside Hogsmeade, wands drawn and casting a faint glow on the snowy trees ahead of them. Sirius found the trapdoor with a little wandering and the Map, and they snuck back into the castle through the tunnels with hushed whispers and song riffs stuck in their heads.

The Fat Lady nearly gave them a screaming fit after they woke her up to give her the password, berating them for their "dangerous, sneaky antics in the middle of the night to Merlin-knows-where as Merlin-knows-how-many Death Eaters are lurking outside the castle", opening finally to a warm, silent common room to the giggling students. Mira stopped at the staircase to the girls' dormitories, giving Sirius an undeniably flirty smile.

"Not too lame a night, Black," she intoned, curls falling out of the scarlet ribbon that now hung down her hair and brushed against her tinted, freckled cheeks.

"Just can't stay away from me, can you, sweetheart?" he taunted, smirking his signature devilish lopsided grin, backing up the steps to his dorm.

"Keep telling yourself that, darling." Mira scoffed warmly, turning up the spiraling steps to collapse into her bed.

"Night, Stone," he called after her, smiling like a drunken puppy, a strange absence swelling in his chest as her warm aroma lingered in the air.

"Night, Black." came her soft reply, and they disappeared up the stairs to fall into lazy dreams of rock and roll, cinnamon snow, and the fiery sparks of the beginning of something possibly and probably more than magic.


	6. Chapter 5

Ch 5: Mistletoe and Tiptoes and War Throes

 _{In Which Sirius is Sneaky, Mira is Uncertain, Winter Holidays are Unexpectedly Cut Short, and a Dark Trouble Emerges}_

"Oi! Stone! Help me carry this or I'll make sure it spills all over your lazy arse!" The shrill voice of Vanessa snapped Mira out of her doze. With a bleary, half-hearted yawn, she begrudgingly pushed herself out of the rather comfy loveseat and flicked out her wand just in time to catch a wayward teacup that slipped off its precarious perch atop a box of ginger cakes on the tipping tray in Vanessa's struggling arms. Mira levitated the cup back onto the tray, then pocketed her wand and took the tray from Vanessa, who heaved a relieved sigh and stuck her tongue at Mira. Mira blew Vanessa a kiss and cautiously carried the tray to a round table in the sparsely occupied Great Hall, where Lily, Georgiana, Alice, Frank, and James were involved in a highly competitive game of exploding snap.

"HA! That'll be three Galleons, Potter, two from Longbottom and four Knuts from Remus when he's back," sneered the triumphant voice of Georgiana, who collected her earnings from a reluctant Frank and snatched up a lemon square from Mira's tray.

"Bested by Moran again, eh? I'm surprised you fools still bet." Mira cackled along with Georgiana and situated herself between her and Frank, who buried his head in his arms with an audibly annoyed groan.

"She's bewitched the deck! You're a bloody cheat!" James exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Georgiana. Vanessa grabbed the coins from his pile and tossed them to Georgiana, who caught them gloatingly.

"It's not her fault you can't tell a Troll from an Ogre," Lily interjected, tossing her cards into James' pile. The cards abruptly burst with a sharp _SNAP!_ , sending James in a flurry of smoke and singed hair. The friends erupted into laughter at James' expense, with Remus arriving just in time to fan the smoke around James' head back into his scowling face.

"Right, how much do I owe you, Georgie?" Remus asked, shuffling around in his pockets while taking his former place beside her and Alice.

"Four Knuts, but double if Mira has Sirius at wandthroat next game," Georgiana replied, smirking behind Mira at the tall, shaggy figure who wandered easily over to the table.

"I wouldn't put money against that," Remus chuckled, grinning at Sirius as Mira scowled playfully at them. She turned around, acknowledging Sirius as he unceremoniously dropped down into the only empty chair, between Mira and Frank.

"Wormy's off cavorting with that Hufflepuff chick, hell has frozen over outside, the Ravenclaw girls are having a very cozy, _very_ open to the public revision session, and you lot are sitting in a nearly empty castle having a game of exploding snap?" Sirius scoffed, demeaning, shaking his head at his friends.

"That's _exploded_ snap," Vanessa corrected, pointing at the singed fringe James was fussing with and eliciting a collective chuckle from the group.

"Right. Deal him a hand," James chuckled, swatting Lily's hand away from his precious hair as she attempted to swipe off the ash.

Alice obliged, peering through her bangs at Sirius, whose arm was covertly tucked behind his back.

"What's that you're trying to hide, Black?" she questioned, withholding his cards. Sirius immediately ducked away from James' nosy glance, moving his hand further out of view behind his black cloak. Lily craned her neck to see, squinting warily at him when she saw a flash of pearly white and green as he extended an arm languidly around the back of Mira's chair.

"Is that—" she started.

"Just a little dose of holiday cheer, nothing else," Sirius said innocently. His dark eyes gleamed fiendishly, and he raised the object in question high above his head, revealing a dewy branch of mistletoe.

Immediately, all the girls squealed in distaste and chairs scraped the wooden floor as they inched away while the boys guffawed at Sirius' stupid antics. Mira let out an amused chuckle before realizing that Sirius' arm held her firmly in place and that he held the plant directly above them. She was, indeed, beneath the mistletoe with Sirius Black. And he was leaning closer, so that she could feel the wicked rumble of devilish laughter escaping his smirking lips. A raucous burst of squeals and wolf-whistles blared in the back of Mira's head, but she smirked right back at Sirius and leaned in, just close enough that their eager lips nearly brushed—

"You're late for class, Sirius." Mira whispered as the clock tower bells rang, startling the students and earning groans and laughter of quelled anticipation from their companions. She briskly swept up her bag and left Sirius slack-jawed at the table, striding away triumphantly with the gaggle of girls giggling wildly around her. James and Remus shook their heads amusedly at him, grabbing their books and heading off to class after giving him an endearingly harsh clap on the back and plucking the mistletoe from his limp hand. Sirius watched Mira's wild locks bounce as she went, a smile tugging at his lips. Mira threw a conspiratorial wink at him over her shoulder, her red ribbon glinting in the Great Hall's bright candlelight as she disappeared up the corridor.

Winter holidays could not have come any later for Mira, who walked out of late-night Astronomy with the elated conviction that she would not have to listen to Professor Trelawney mumble rhetorically about the resonant astronomical meaning of a patch of coffee grinds in the bottom of her drained cup for a whole glorious two weeks. She hurried down the spiraling staircase of the Astronomy Tower, wondering how many times she could convince her parents she was "going to see a film" before they realized that she was actually spending her break meeting up with Georgiana and Vanessa at the Talking Toad to drink far too many butterbeers and dance to terribly wizard disco. Just as she had settled on a new alibi involving slumber parties and a fictional Defense Against the Dark Arts paper, Mira felt a sharp tug at her sleeve and she was pulled into an enclave in the stone wall.

"Sirius, you prick, do you want me to slip and fall on my arse down the steps?" Mira looked up into the ever-gleaming eyes of Sirius Black, who ducked his head down to speak with her in a hushed, excited tone.

"While that sounds absolutely hilarious and well worth the spectacle—" he stopped as Mira slapped at his shoulder admonishingly—"I've got a surprise. But—" he stopped her this time with a finger to her lips, shaking his head, "you need to shut up and follow me."

She rolled her eyes impatiently and sighed. She made a permissive motion and Sirius grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her out into the stairwell with him. They rushed down the steps, weaving past lingering students until Sirius halted in front of a small wooden door. He glanced around, then opened the door and ushered Mira through. They tiptoed through a dimly lit, narrow corridor until a bright light shone in on the path from an opening at the turn, a door to a small courtyard. Mira followed Sirius outside, where the dazzling snowy sunlight momentarily blinded her. They walked out into the frosted garden, where a small footpath wound its way beneath a student bridge to the North end of the castle. Casual birdsong and the distant chatter of students disrupted their silence. Sirius stopped beside a gray stone wall where frozen ivy climbed its way up to the arched bridge.

"Right, what's so special about a freezing courtyard?" Mira asked, her breath fanning visibly against Sirius' chin as she shivered.

Sirius only shook his head, shaggy silky hair falling across his forehead. He pointed above them. Mira quirked her brows, tilting her head up to the walkway of the bridge.

James, Remus, and Peter smirked evilly above them, fidgeting in the cold and holding out a single branch of mistletoe. Mira nearly groaned. Instead, she whipped her eyes back to Sirius' grinning face.

"Bastard," she murmured.

"The best kind," he replied, his breath warming her rosy olive cheeks and freckled nose. He glanced down at her lips, and Mira was suddenly torn: torn between being smart and staying away from this boy who played girls just like she played guys, or kissing the smirk right off his lips purposefully and passionately.

Mira never was one to think things through and was never one to stay uncertain for long.

On impulse, she met Sirius halfway and kissed him with chilly, parted lips to the sound of howling Marauders. On impulse, Sirius responded eagerly and wrapped an arm around her waist, the other toying with her fluttering ribbon (not to mention fluttering heart). Mira smirked against Sirius' lips as the boys above them wolf-whistled to oblivion.

"Might as well give them a show," she whispered, their heavy breaths mixing in stark contrast to the winter chill as she tugged his lip with her teeth and snaked her hands up his neck and into his hair. Sirius grinned, deciding that Mira was just as good a thinker as she was a kisser. He lost his hands in her black hair, and when they parted, breathing heavily and most definitely warmed up, her ribbon was tangled in his fingers.

"Oi! Romeo! We're going to miss the train home!" James called from above amidst the boys' wild sniggering. "Unless it's a different kind of ride you want!"

Sirius cackled as Mira gracefully turned and flipped them off, grinning at her and her red, red lips. She straightened her scarf around her neck, smiling slyly at him.

"Merry Christmas, Black." Mira said, turning to go and prepare her bags for the long trip home. She blew him a playful kiss, her dark lashes catching snowflakes.

"And a Happy New Year, Stone." Sirius responded, winking with a lopsided grin. He watched her go, fingering the red ribbon in his hand.

"Merlin, not another attack!" Mrs. Stone cried worriedly over her morning tea, haphazardly laying the plate of fresh toast on the kitchen table and leaning over her husband's shoulder at the Muggle newspaper he was reading intently. The headlines read, "Mysterious Explosion in King's Cross Kills Twenty, Injures Dozens More", under black-and-white photographs depicting the train station and its commuters in a frenzied state of panic and disarray. Other articles on the front page pointed to terrorists and extremist bombers, but Celia Stone, being a witch, knew that behind the attacks was something much, much worse.

"Isn't the Ministry of Magic supposed to be handling those wizard terrorists?" Mr. Stone asked, a thoughtful frown furrowing his thin features as he perused the news. He glanced up through his narrow, rectangular glasses at his wife, who sighed tiredly and collapsed into the chair beside his, a black curl hanging limp against her aging heart-shaped face in its escape from her bun.

"They're about as efficient as a government run entirely by confused mice, Dad, so I wouldn't expect much from them," quipped the bright voice of Mira Stone as she hopped down the small staircase and into the kitchen, Daily Prophet in hand. "The latest word is to start taking matters into our own hands and protect ourselves, since the Ministry's too busy trying to assure us that You-Know-Who's not a threat to do anything about him. There's even talk of Dumbledore forming some sort of Order against the Death-Eaters."

Mira tossed the magical newspaper to her mother, who eagerly opened its animated pages and read the attack warnings amongst late new year's wishes, scowling angrily when she reached the article that claimed, "The Ministry is doing everything in its power to work against the so-called 'Death-Eaters' to prevent further Muggle attacks and assure the safety of the magical and non-magical British community". Mrs. Stone put the paper down in disgust, busying herself with pouring Mira some tea. Suddenly, she put the teapot down, expression grim.

"Mira, we've decided to take a…temporary…" she stumbled on her words as Mira's frown deepened.

"Leave of absence, if you will," Mr. Stone interjected, words clearer than his wife's. "Like a holiday of sorts, except replacing tropical beaches and frou-frou drinks and sunburns with new ID's and hot dogs and American visas."

He took Mrs Stone's hand, both their faces lined with the weary fear of wizarding war.

"What do you mean? We're moving? What about Hogwarts, Quidditch—"

"It's only for a little while, dear. It's just too dangerous here, and I—we, don't want anything to happen to you because of our family circumstances," Mrs. Stone explained, voice as careworn as her forehead.

"We're running away? Just because I'm a Half-blood? We need to stay and fight the Death Eaters and win this bloody war!" Mira yelled, temper rising.

"Mira, it's for the best. I'm a Muggle, your mum's Muggle-born, and it makes us and especially you a bigger target for their attacks. We can't let anything happen to you, sweetheart. We'll be staying with Greg and Mary in Seattle." Mr. Stone said, his deep voice betraying his American roots.

"I don't want to run! I'm not a coward, this is utter bullshit!" Mira screamed, fury bubbling up in her chest and reddening her cheeks. She stood, eyes darting from her mother to her father, outraged at their seeming meekness.

"Watch your mouth, Mira—"

"No, Mum, I can't believe this! We're safe as long as we stick together—"

"We're not safe, Mira!" Mrs. Stone exclaimed, standing up with a loud screech of her chair. "You-Know-Who's out to eradicate all Muggles and non-pureblood wizards, and I will not have my family torn apart in a war the Ministry refuses to acknowledge!"

"You can't expect me to just sit quietly and run off like a sniveling yellow-bellied child!" Mira countered, her Gryffindor blood boiling.

"Mira, it's the only way." barked Mr. Stone sternly. Mira scowled.

"No it's not! We have to fight back, it's just a stupid, stupid war," her voice broke, the full force of the reality that what was to be Second Wizarding War hitting her like a full body bind. Except, none of the jinxes in the world couldn't counter the curse of sorrow and fear that permeated her as she collapsed into her seat, choking back sobs, her parent's arms around her. Outside the grieving family's small village home, the slowly falling January snow signaled a New Year of strife and loss, a year of chaos and battle, bitter and gloaming like an ominous Grim shadow against the white sky.


End file.
